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Need some justice over here. And some business advice, please!

My daughter is studying the industrial revolution in social studies right now. We are reading The Jungle together. How awesome that there’s an audio book now, and even video versions! I was a kid when I first read it, and I couldn’t pronounce any of the names, so I substituted ordinary American names in my head just so that I could keep track of everyone. But then I had to keep track of my substitutions, so I had a cheat sheet that I used as a bookmark. Plus I sometimes fell asleep while I was reading it…no wonder I couldn’t remember much of it. Except for the yucky parts. Anyway.

This is one of the (many, many) reasons I prefer to meet you all over on Bonanza. 😡 Lookie lookie, actual evidence of big-time criminal behavior at eBay. There have been rumors for a long time but lots of denials and no proof. Go get ’em, DOJ. It will probably take awhile for this to hit the regular news, but this against the law, and this leaked list could be the foot in the door that is needed to go after evidence of other crimes.

I used to think many of the commenters on EcommerceBytes were bitter, cynical, frustrated, angry people in all aspects of their lives. Crackpots. But the more I learn about the business, the more I think those commenters were oracles. Ming? Yeah, he may look all bonkers and stuff, but he’s right about a lot of things. Or maybe I’m getting to be a crackpot too. 🙂

How many family businesses has eBay taken down to scratch the backs of their partners? How many customers have not been able to buy what they wanted, at the price they wanted, from whom they wanted, because of these collusions? OK, enough ranting for now. Time for some soothing music.

I’ve thought about moving over to Etsy, but their search engine gives me the heebie jeebies. And their interface – it’s too much like Pinterest, which creeps me out. Plus I don’t know how to list things. I have a lot of vintage craft supplies, for instance. Are they vintage? Or are they craft supplies? And (significantly) I don’t want to spend hundreds of hours and lots of money to set up shop at Etsy to find the same problems happening all over again. They are becoming a big business too, and they must be feeling the pressure to act like a big business.

But…I need my competitors. Nobody has ALL the craft supplies, so a marketplace is where we can all get together and customers looking for stuff can find what they need.

I like Bonanza because it’s really easy to list, and if I get enough sales over there, I can afford to go whole hog and open a store. (I just have a booth now.) I think lots of eBay sellers will make the move now just because Bonanza is glad to do the heavy lifting and import eBay listings. So for now, that is where I am going to park my store. Right now, Bonanza seems unusually honest and ethical. If they grow, are they going to turn into scuzzbags too? I guess we’ll find out.

I’ve been checking out some Facebook groups for selling and buying. They seem to be a little more “Wild West,” kind of like Craigslist, but some of them are fun. I sell a little bit on Amazon, but it’s not such a good fit for most of my merchandise. Ecrater is very cheap, but an awful lot of work, and I’m not sure my technical skills are up to the challenge just yet. I’ll be thinking and reading and testing over the next few weeks. As soon as I can afford it, I would love to dump my eBay store.

So…craft supply shoppers? Where do you like to shop for patterns and yarn and fabric and kits? What do you think about Etsy? Sellers, where do you sell your things? If you’re in a good Facebook group, would you mind sharing that with me as well? Thanks, you’re awesome!